corridan has more on that. >> "i believe we need to raise the debt ceiling, but if we don't raise it without a plan to get out of debt, all of us should be fired." if you have a comment or story idea for stanley, e- mail us at peoplebehavingbadly@kron4.co m >> reporter: strong words for a new congress, the new years deadline for the so-called "fiscal cliff" has come and gone. now lawmakers start a new session under pressure to avert another financial crisis - this time over raising the debt ceiling. if an agreement isn't reached by late february or early march, the united states risks defaulting on its financial obligations. the argument this time around will be over how much congress will agree to cut spending. >> "the bottom line is we can't continue down the path we're on of borrowing money to pay our own debt with, and we've got to have serious spending cuts. we've got to have dollar for dollar within the same year." >> reporter: >> reporter: but key democrats say the debt limit and spending cuts are not related, and a deal based on a dollar-for-dollar offset could further dam